Sepultura were originally meant to come to Dundee way back in January 2007, but the gig was cancelled after the band were stranded in Spain or something; hence, there was a feeling that Sepultura kind of owed Dundee a show. And what a show they put on…
Alright, I’ll admit it, I didn’t turn up in time for the first support band. I assume there was one, but I have no idea who it was. Not a great start, sorry. I guess it’s possible that Gama Bomb were the only support, though, so I’ll just pretend that was the case; they easily did the work of two bands, anyway. The Northern Irish thrash revivalists ripped through a great set that got the crowd really fired up, even inspiring a circle-pit at one point. The crowd seemed really up for it, despite it being a rainy Monday night, and Gama Bomb played to this dynamic perfectly, getting the mob warmed up nicely for the arrival of the Brazilian legends.
Two things stand out in my memory about the arrival of Sepultura on-stage; one was the sheer ludicrous volume they created, enough to numb ear canals for several days afterwards, and the other being the fanatical reaction of the crowd. I initially stationed myself in an observational position halfway up the stairs in the middle-back area of the venue, but as the band tore into ‘Arise’ someone was literally thrown far enough from the pit to upset my pint. The entire of Fat Sam’s just erupted, as every song, old and new, was greeted with moshing the likes of which the venue has never before witnessed.
The band themselves were ludicrously tight, tearing through a set comprised fairly equally of more recent material and more ‘classic’ Sepultura tunes, fittingly enough for a 25th anniversary tour. While the ghosts of Igor and Max Cavalera may have been haunting the minds of many prior to the show, such thoughts couldn’t have been further away while the band were on stage and on top form. Hulking vocalist Derrick Green roared his way through every song as convincingly as Max ever did (sporting dreadlocks down to his arse to boot), and Jean Dolabella was an absolute dynamo behind the kit, hammering out the band’s tribal rhythms and inspiring a near-constant bounce in the crowd.
Indeed, the ferocity of the pit was such that Derrick actually appealed to the crowd to help the fallen to their feet during the intro to ‘Sepulnation‘. To be fair, impeccable moshpit etiquette was being observed at all times, but it says a lot about the mentality of the crowd that they responded to this plea by forming up for a Wall of Death. They had obviously taken Derrick’s words on board, later in the song converging as one to hoist the largest man in the pit off his feet, sending bouncers scuttling for cover as the behemoth crowdsurfer sailed over the barrier.
After the incredible intensity of the opening songs, the band seemed to relax into the gig, clearly enjoying the fanatical reactions of the crowd, especially when they began to crack into the “classic Sepultura” back-catalogue with songs from “Beneath the Remains”, “Chaos A.D.” and “Arise”. Frankly, every single note received a great response regardless of historical gravitas, even when the band spontaneously broke into a short reggae jam “for the serious guys out there, you know?”. Burly shirtless men who had moments earlier been engaged in what appeared to be mortal combat were unashamed to get down and, for want of a better word, boogie.
After an hour and a bit of furious ear-numbing moshpit-inducing heaviness - not to mention another, rather larger, Wall of Death - it all came to a climax with the crowd bouncing as one to an incredible rendition of ‘Roots Bloody Roots’. Not to sound conceited, but I’ve been to rather a lot of gigs, and seen a lot of things…and honestly that, that was something a bit special. If there were doubts lingering about the validity of a Cavalera-free Sepultura, there was no finer way to expunge them than this gig. A stone-cold classic.
Article by Phil Sim
